The Biggest Internet Trends to Watch in 2018

The Code Conference is happening in California this week, with tech execs from Facebook, Snapchat, Airbnb, Uber, Spotify, and more sitting down with Re/code staff to talk about the latest in tech.

But CodeCon is also where Mary Meeker reveals her annual Internet Trends report. Every year, the General Partner at Kleiner Perkins speeds through hundreds of slides that sum up research on every corner of the tech world.

This year, Meeker jumped from one-liner to one-liner in a relatively short 297-slide presentation (last year's was 355 slides!) hitting every internet trend under the sun. Check out some of the biggest themes and highlights from this year's report.

2The Rise of Digital Currencies

This one's a no-brainer, but Meeker's report looks at the exponential growth in users for the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange as indicative of the larger rise in digital currencies. Whether you're talking about Bitcoin, Ether, or any of the thousands of other coins populating the volatile market, prices may fluctuate wildly but overall activity is only trending upwards.

3The Data Privacy Backlash

Meeker talked a lot about the privacy paradox between improving digital experiences through data and personalization while maintaining data privacy in a post-Cambridge Analytica and GDPR age.

"Data sharing creates multifaceted challenges," Meeker said, where the majority of users will share data if it presents "clear personal benefits." When benefits are unclear users are now more likely to delete apps, adjust privacy settings, disable cookies, and more.

While rising monetization and data collection are driving regulatory scrutiny, the reckoning for tech companies and regulators is about unintended consequences. Facebook didn't think about the unintended consequences of its platform being abused, Meeker said, and as GDPR comes into force, Europe needs to be mindful and open to change when things go wrong.

4The On-Demand Economy Reaches Scale

The on-demand economy is booming. "On-demand jobs are filling needs for workers who want extra income, flexibility, and have underutilized skills and assets."

According to Intuit, Meeker said the workforce will rise from 5.4 million in 2017 to an estimated 6.8 million in 2018. Companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, Etsy, Upwork, and Uber are seeing huge platform growth. Uber now has 3 million monthly driver partners, Airbnb has 5 million monthly listings, and Upwork has 16 million freelancers in the thriving market.

5Chinese Tech Companies Close the Gap

Meeker dedicated more than 50 of her almost 300 slides to China. Five years ago, China had two internet companies in the top 20 in terms of market value, compared to nine for the US. Today, China has nine to America's 11 including not only Alibaba but companies like Tencent, Baidu, Xiaomi, ride sharing giant Didi Chixung, and Ant Financial.

China is also gaining in smartphone shipments, active internet users compared to the rest of the world, and is gaining on artificial intelligence development because of the government's heavy focus on AI research.

The report also spends some time on Alibaba, whihch is building a new e-commerce ecosystem in China and starting to extend its dominance into other countries like India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Singapore as well. Alibaba is also beginning to mimic Amazon in the way its platform extends to not only online marketplaces but physical retail, payments, entertainment, and cloud infrastructure.

6How Much Internet Use Is Too Much?

Meeker said the line between healthy and unhealthy internet use comes down to how the time is spent. This lines up with what we found in our recent cover story on how to tell if you're a tech addict. Addiction can be a divisive term, but compulsive internet and smartphone use can become problematic when compulsive tech habits begin to negatively affect other areas of your life: anxiety, emotions, interpersonal relationships, sleep, and more. If any of that describes you, check out our tips for how to wean yourself off smartphones and social media.

Rob was previously an editor at SD Times covering software, managing social media, and writing narrative-driven features on any offbeat story or trend he could find. He graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications ... See Full Bio